US Route 41 at IL Route 176 Interchange Village of Lake Bluff Public Meeting #2 September 20, 2012 Summary: The second Public Meeting for the US Route 41 at IL Route 176 Interchange Phase I Study was held on September 20, 2012 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It was located at the Lake Bluff Elementary School, 350 West Washington Avenue, Lake Bluff, IL 60044. The meeting included a Power Point presentation and exhibits displaying the overall project development process, Level 1 Screening Alternatives, Level 2 Screening alternatives, roundabout information, the two Finalist Alternatives, two relocated frontage road options, and an impact matrix. The purpose of the meeting was to present the two Finalist Alternatives and two relocated frontage road options to the public for comment. The two Finalist Alternatives are Alternatives 7 and 8. Alternative 7 includes improvements to the existing interchange configuration to improve safety, reduce congestion, and improve mobility. The improvements include acceleration and deceleration lanes to and from US Route 41; elevation adjustments to US Route 41 to increase sight distances; improved intersections to properly accommodate all vehicles and eliminate confusing operations; widening of Skokie Valley Road and Shagbark Road; additional through lanes and turn lanes along IL Route 176 to handle the future traffic demands; and modernized traffic signals. Alternative 8 includes the same improvements as Alternative 7 except with modern-day roundabouts along IL Route 176 at Skokie Valley Road and Shagbark Road instead of conventional traffic signals. Both of these alternatives were determined to be good improvements that would handle the design year (2040) traffic while minimizing socio- economic and environmental impacts at a reasonable construction cost. Two options were also presented for the relocated access road to replace the existing frontage road on the east side of US Route 41 north of W. Washington Avenue that is being displaced with the improvements to US Route 41. Option 1 extends Skokie Valley Road to the north between two buildings before curving to the east along private property adjacent to the railroad right-of-way further north. Option 2 extends West Washington Avenue to the east and then turning to the north along private property adjacent to the railroad right-of-way. Option 1 minimizes building impacts but bisects several parcels. Option two leaves the remainder of the parcels contiguous but requires the removal of three buildings. Meeting Advertisement: The Public Meeting was advertised in the Lake County News-Sun and the Lake Forester on August 30, 2012 and September 13, 2012. Post card invitations were sent out to 225 people. The Public Meeting was also advertised on the Village website at www.lakebluff.org. 41 people signed the Meeting Register. Nine Project Advisory Group members were in attendance, but four of those did not sign the register. Comments: There were 10 comment forms filled out and left in the comment box at the Public Meeting, one comment letter was sent to the Village of Lake Bluff, and four comments were sent to the project email address. Of these 15 comments received, 1 (6.7%) indicated that both finalist alternatives made excellent sense, 11 (73.3%) supported Alternative 8 with roundabouts, and 1 (6.7%) supported Alternative 7 with conventional traffic signals. Other comments included: 1 recommendation for Relocated Access Road Option 2 for potential parcel redevelopment. 1 indicated the north/south pedestrian crossing on the east side at IL Route 176 and IL Route 43 is dangerous with several pedestrians and bicyclists having been hit there and recommends encouraging crossing at the proposed roundabout crossing. 1 recommended the Village investigate adding a No Right on Red sig for the southbound to westbound movement at the IL Route 176 and IL Route 43 intersection. 1 recommended a conventional diamond interchange. 1 expressed concerns over their easement rights, sign visibility, truck access, and traffic noise. 1 expressed an objection to loosing direct access to their motel from northbound US Route 41. A summary of the Public Meeting Comments is provided in table 1. Prior to the Public Meeting, a Project Advisory Group member objected to roundabouts via email to the Project Management Team recommending Alternative 7 with conventional traffic signals. He indicated roundabouts would not allow safe access to his property. He did not attend the meeting or submit another comment during the official comment period. In Attendance: Project Management Team Drew Irvin – Lake Bluff George Russell – Lake Bluff Kimberly Murphy – IDOT Marnell Morse– IDOT Cary Lewis – IDOT Rick Wojcik– IDOT Mehdi Geraminegad – IDOT Mike Cullian – IDOT Bilal Almasri - IDOT Terry Heffron - IDOT Bill Goodman – Shields Township Mike Matkovic – CBBEL Phil Santos – CBBEL Pete Knysz – CBBEL Bill Eidson – CBBEL Matt Huffman – CBBEL Emily Anderson - CBBEL Martin Worman - CBBEL Richard Ray – Huff & Huff Daniel Grove – Lakota Group Project Advisory Group Paul Bergmann - Resident Niketa/Bharat Patel - Sunset Motel Jodi Blackford - Greg’s Auto Body Wayne Spath - Resident Ed Whitehead - Rockland Fire Protection District Jennifer Longworth - Robinwood Estates Condominium Association Dipak Patel – By-the-Way Motel Bob Hunter – Resident Other Notable Attendees Mark Dewart, Trustee – Village of Lake Bluff Josh Wheeler, City Engineer/Public Works Director – City of North Chicago Nimrod Warda, City Planner – City of North Chicago TABLE 1 US Route 41 at IL Route 176 Public Hearing Summary of Comments ID Date Name & Address of Comment In Favor In Favor # Received Provider of Alt 7 of Alt 8 Additional Comments: 1 9/20/2012 David Barkhansen x Likes the idea of the roundabouts, especially if there is same cost savings over the alternative with lights. Krishna Ranganathan 2 9/20/2012 105 Albright Dr. x Roundabouts work & would love to see them in Lake Bluff. Access Road Option 2 for redevelopment. Lake Bluff, IL 3 9/20/2012 Mark Dewart x S. Dewart 454 4 9/20/2012 Park Ln. x Great idea. Lake Bluff Nimron Warda 5 9/20/2012 1850 Lewis Ave. x Most sensible alternative, most cost effective, will improve the fluidity of interchange. North Chicago, IL 60064 Theresia Yakes 1002 6 9/20/2012 North Ave. x Thank you for all of your hard work & to the Village for finding funds to complete this phase of the project. Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Janice Schnobrick 7 9/20/2012 766 Mawman Ave. The two finalist alternatives make excellent sense & appear to be the least costly. Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Dan Rogers I see more and more roundabouts and they work great. Also, be aware of 176 & 43 crosswalk going N-S on the east side. Check with 8 9/20/2012 610 Adephia Ave. x Lake Bluff Police - too hard to cross, several have been hit over the year. You should force foot traffic east to roundabout crosswalks. Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Sandy Hart 455 9 9/20/2012 x Recommends the Village to investigate a "No Turn On Red" at 176 & Green Bay Road to deter traffic from the north headed west on 176. Pine Ct. Ed Whitehead/Rockland Fire 10 9/20/2012 208 N. Waukegan Rd., Suite C x Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Leonard Gustafson 525 11 9/26/2012 W. Washington Ave., #15 Lake x Syncronizing the lights with each other and with railroad crossing lights would be benificial. Bluff, IL Stephen Skinner In Oshkosh and/or Neenah WI, they have done major improvements around US Route 41 replacing traffic signals with roundabouts. They 12 10/1/2012 1160 Estes Ave. x work well with heavy traffic and no signals to sit and wait at. Riverwoods and Everett is a good example in our area - flow is great without Lake Bluff, IL 60045 any long waits, and it seems to be very safe. 10/1/2012 Recommends a diamond interchange to eliminate dual use of the streets which must be a basic cause of the traffic congestions and safety Richard Dompker 13 and problems which the finalist alternatives appear to maintain. The Everett and Riverwoods Roads roundabout certainly works well for the Lake Forest 10/5/12 traffic it experiences but not sure if it would work for the traffic on 176. A diamond interchange would make the roundabouts unnecessary. Niketa Patel 511 14 10/2/2012 Rockland Rd. x Expressed concerns with Sunset Motel's easement rights, sign visibility, truck & trailer access, and traffic noise. Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Diptak Patel By 15 10/5/2012 Objects to loosing direct access from northbound US Route 41 to the By The Way Motel. The Way Motel Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. 1 of 1 Public Meeting Interchange Reconstruction Finalist Alternatives For US Route 41 (Skokie Highway) at Illinois Route 176 (Rockland Road) Village of Lake Bluff Shields Township Lake County Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012 Time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Place: Lake Bluff Elementary School 350 West Washington Avenue Lake Bluff, IL 60044 Welcome to this Public Meeting The Village of Lake Bluff and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) welcomes you to this Public Meeting concerning the proposed improvement of US Route 41 (Skokie Highway) at Illinois Route 176 (Rockland Road) in the Village of Lake Bluff, Shields Township, and Lake County, Illinois, with a special focus on the finalist alternatives for the US Route 41 at IL Route 176 interchange. An audio-visual presentation has been prepared to summarize the project development process to date. You are also invited to view the project exhibits on display. Staff members from the Village of Lake Bluff, IDOT and the project engineering consultants will be available to discuss various aspects of the project and answer questions you may have. Purpose of this Public Meeting This Public Meeting will describe the project development process to date.